Last issue, Heather Hudson succumbed to the power of the beast inside of her. Tanaraq, the demon who bartered to give her her power, has decided to ride along with the Exiles until he finds a way home. Unless he can find another way home first.

Desperate to prevent him from destroying a world, the Exiles make a desperate move against him – and at the same time, expose some of their own fears. This is a decent issue. If there’s any problem with it, it’s a lack of build-up. The Tanaraq angle came up basically out of the blue last issue, and it is resolved quickly.

On the plus side, there’s a lot of fun in this issue, seeing the interaction of some of the smartest villains in the Marvel Universe. Bedard even manages to work in a little comedy in these scenes. We also get a bit of development – or at least discussion – about the recurring subplot of the series, namely whether or not the team can really trust the mysterious Timebroker that propels them along on their missions. When you get down to it, though, the only thing that really changed over the last few issue’s is Heather’s status with the team, and it’s a bit far for such a relatively minor change.

Mizuki Sakakibara handles the art chores on this issue, and as usual, does a great job. Her handling of Tanaraq and the less-human members of the team, like Beak, is consistently impressive. And of course, seeing the all-star villain lineup is a treat.

I keep sitting on the edge of my seat, waiting for Bedard to shove this issue just over the lip from being decent to being really good. He keeps teetering over that edge, and he’s been there for a long time now. A slight push could make this a great comic… I just find myself consistently waiting for it to come.